Sneddon says Scotland women are piling pressure on Sweden in World Cup bid

Scotland's 100 per cent start sets things up nicely for June showdown with Sweden

Megan Sneddon reckons her Scotland side have heaped pressure on World Cup qualifying rivals Sweden ahead of their crunch meeting this summer.

Last Thursday the Scots came from behind to beat Bosnia 3-1 in Zenica and maintain their 100 per cent start to their Group Four campaign as Jane Ross’ second-half hat-trick cancelled out Monika Kulis’s opener for the hosts.

The result leaves Megan’s side top of the pile, after recording six wins from six with top seeds Sweden six points behind, having played two games fewer.

And with the group’s top two sides meeting at Fir Park on June 14 in a match that could go a long way to deciding who will qualify for the 2015 World Cup in Canada, Rangers Ladies’ star Megan believes Scotland are in great shape to upset the odds.

She told the News: “You can’t ask for better than six wins out of six. We’ve only conceded three goals and had four clean sheets so, defensively, we are solid. And when you look at the goals we’ve scored [25], we are creating a lot of chances and taking them, so it puts us in a great position.

“But Sweden are still favourites to win the group, so all that does is put more pressure on them.

“Everyone expects them to go out and win every game, so the more we keep winning the tougher we make it for them.

“We’ve definitely given them food for thought and the girls can’t wait to play them now.”

After beating Bosnia 7-0 at Fir Park last year in the reverse fixture, the Scots certainly had to work a lot harder for their three points last week after going a goal down early on.

It wasn’t a surprise to Megan, who had predicted a tight encounter in the build-up, but she admitted confidence in the squad is high right now they always knew they would turn it around after conceding.

“I don’t care who you are, you can’t defend for the whole game and come away with the win,” said Megan, who won her 125th cap in Bosnia.

“I expected a difficult game and they only way they were going to score against us was from a set-piece and that’s what happened.

“They got everyone behind the ball after that and we had to be patient. We were denied a penalty and had a goal chalked off, so we knew the goal was coming.

“And when we got the first one, we never doubted that more would follow. In the past we might have been worried going a goal down – but not now, not this team.”